Metal to die for??

Is metal music really something to die for? Yes, I’ve heard the term “metal to die for” thrown around but do people actually live by that? Sure the all black clothing adorned with metal spikes suggests hardcore and maybe even violent mentalities but I thought the saying was just an exaggeration… According to Keith Kahn-Harris in his novel entitled “Extreme Metal”, “The strongest charge made against heavy metal was that it caused murder and suicide”(Kahn-Harris 27). “In a number of US murder trials, heavy metal was cited as the “cause”, and on occasion, being under the influence of heavy metal was accepted as a “diminished-responsibility” defense in criminal trials”(Richardson 1991). So, does metal encourage and/or nurture teenage suicidal tendencies?

Lets take a real life look at a case involving a teen suicide in North Dakota. Raymond Kuntz's teenage son committed suicide in 1996 while listening to a CD by the heavy metal group Marilyn Manson. Kuntz testified November 6, 1997 stating that,

“Heavy metal music glorifies death and encourages violence and suicide among teenagers. The offensive lyrics found in heavy metal music contradict community values, harm society, and endanger the nation's children. Music corporation executives should take responsibility for the harm that comes to their impressionable listeners. Furthermore, parental advisory labels should be mandatory on the covers of all violent and offensive music.”

Let’s also take a look at the lyrics to the supposed song that Kuntz was listening to as he reportedly committed suicide on that fateful day.

Marilyn Manson's "The Reflecting God" from the CD titled Antichrist Superstar.

Your world is an ashtray
We burn and coil like cigarettes
The more you cry your ashes turn to
mud
Its the nature of the leeches, the Virgin's feeling cheated
You've only spent a second of you're life
My world is unaffected, there is an exit here

I can certainly see how the title of the track alone is so scary to parents all over the world. That being said, it seems unfair to undoubtedly connect the teens suicide to the mere fact that he was a Manson fan. Did this kid have suicidal tendencies anyway? Would it have been a different outcome if he were blasting Hanson on his walkman? Questions that everyone accusing metal (or not) should ask. Maybe metal music saves kids from violence or maybe it creates it. Whatever your opinion on the matter maybe, listen to what Marilyn has to say about it in the video below.

The Rise of The "GUITAR GODS"

Where the new wave of British heavy metal left off, Thrash Metal certainly picked right up! Characterized usually by its grueling fast tempos and aggression, thrash metal is often fast and percussive, with a lead guitarist murdering his guitar with lighting fast “shreds” almost as some sort of sacrifice towards his audience. The "Big Four" bands of thrash metal and the true pioneers of the scene are without a doubt Metallica, Anthrax, Megadeth, and Slayer, who simultaneously fashioned and popularized the genre in the early 1980s. By creating a new genre and developing a separate movement from punk rock and hardcore, this new metal movement was really brought together by one thing, the SHRED! This “shred” explained by Steve Waksman, author of “This Aint The Summer of Love” as, “The way the guitarist were prone to “tear up” with their extreme technique”(Pg. 262).

As if it wasn’t cool enough to play the damn guitar, “shred based, classically informed, guitar-oriented metal became a phenomenon unto itself” (Pg. 262). Thrash was all about the “rise of the rock guitar hero” (Pg. 263), adding masculinity and a whole lot of competition to be the best and the fastest thrash band. “It’s like musical athletics, athletics is all about speed and fast is the best”(Pg. 263).

Hands down my absolute favorite thrash metal guitarist has got to be Dave Mustaine of Megadeath and a founding member of Metallica. Ranked at number 19 on the top 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists of All Time in 2004 and named the No. 1 player in Joel McIver's book The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists, Mustaine was an innovator to say the very least.

Below is a great clip of Megadeath from 2007 playing their song entitled “Holy Wars”. His guitar could definitely be a little louder but his stage presence still exudes that notion of “all eyes on me” to even more cement the idea of “Guitar God”. Take a look for yourself…

Metal Disco

After viewing a documentary and reading Steve Waksman’s depiction of the rise of “The New Wave of British Heavy Metal”, I was enthralled by the idea behind Neal Kay’s heavy metal nights at the Kingsbury Bandwagon Pub. The event coined as, “Soundhouse”, was a regular gathering where as Waksman described, “it was a place where heavy metal fans could feel at home a few nights a week” (Waksman 172). What fascinates me regarding this “heavy metal disco” is a couple of things; first of all the notion of a musical community that existed back then and secondly, how important this collective environment (and many others like it) were to creating the present day metal scene and underlying sense of community.

Ironically, DJ Neal Kay’s Soundhouse was no more than, “young male fans in denim jackets and rock t-shirts milling about, mooning the camera and most notably, playing air guitar, a favored practice of heavy metal musical appreciation”(Waksman 173). This being said, the whole concept of a place for who most of society deemed as misfits to roam free and casual was so influential in shaping the culture of the new wave of British heavy metal. Just like Sarah Thornton interjects in her study, “Club Cultures”, “The music and style press are crucial to our conceptions of British youth; they do not just cover subcultures, they create them”(Waksman 175). Thornton is getting at a great thing here, during the up rise of the new wave of British heavy metal teens didn’t simply have computers to download all their music, nor did they have chat rooms to get advice on good music, these young listeners had to go out and find clubs that had the correct equipment and LOUD sound systems. At these clubs is where the subculture norms were created, that includes dancing, lingo, dress and anything else you could think of. Events like Kay’s Soundhouse are responsible for shaping the entire new scene of British heavy metal and rocketing the genre into the public limelight.

At the Soundhouse, Neal Kay managed to bring together fans of both the softer Melodic Rock and lovers of the harder-edged Heavy Metal. Kay also compiled many of the numerous demos he received onto an album called "Metal For Muthas", and several volumes were released, becoming collector's items for fans and really the start of the “mixtape” phenomenon making it easier for bands to get discovered and for the scene to take on rapid growth in both musicians and listeners. The Soundhouse, a tiny bar in a tiny town absolutely brought a great sense of community to the up and coming metal scene in England.

Women that ROCK

A greatly fascinating topic in the metal world is the presence of women. The entire notion of a female in the heavy metal scene is almost mind-blowing considering the fact that it is safe to say that heavy metal is mostly preferred by adolescent boys and young men. The content of heavy metal music lyrics evolved from a society which was very identified with drug use and the general social upheaval associated with the 1960's to a vow of total anarchy and power.

Studies have shown that metal listeners are at a high risk of delinquent and aggressive behaviors associated with heavy metal music listening patterns (Roberts, Dimsdale, East, & Friedman, 1998). Similarly, studies have also concluded that hard rock music was preferred by subjects who were high in need for sensation and thrill seeking. This reckless demographic being generally young males, young males that LOVE women (and probably struggle to find them, not that I would know anything about that).

Steve Waksman, author of “This Aint The Summer of Love”, accredits Kim Fowley, associate of famed 60’s producer Phill Spector, for the introduction of women into the hard rock scene. Fowley was great with finding the next big trend, this next big trend for Fowley being all girl rock groups. “Girls who can bring hysteria, magic, beauty, and teen authority to the stage”(Waksman 131). Fowley knew his next endeavor would be a great success if he could only obtain girls, “that were instrumentalists as well as vocalists”(Waksman 131). Fowley understood the rock demographic I have described above. Let’s face it, every angstfull metalhead teen boy loves a hot metal chick. The problem was that this was a tough find, ultimately glorifying the presence of an all female band even more.

I recently came across a band called wicked wisdom. This band is interesting because they are an American Nu Metal band featuring Jada Pinkett Smith…yep, Will Smith’s wife. When granted their first official tour with a spot on the world renowned Ozzfest, critics where outraged with the idea of such an unaccredited band performing on second stage. Jada is afterall not just a woman; she’s married to the guy who wrote “getting jiggy with it”.

Below is a clip of wicked wisdom live on the tonight show. Does Jada fit with the underlying metal theme? Can you take her presence seriously?

Iggy Pop Is Gay??

The poster child of radical extremes, overindulgence and self-abuse in rock music, Iggy Pop was one of the major performers of the late 60’s to set the stage for the emergence of the die hard punk rock movement during the following decade. Relentlessly chanting lyrics reveling in the darker aspects of the human society, many metal heads feared punk rock’s powerful ministry might be taking metal’s place. Self-proclaimed “true” metal fans despised this “New Wave Bullshit” and as stated in Steve Waksman’s fascinating novel, This ain't the summer of love: conflict and crossover in heavy metal and punk, thought fans were absolutely ridiculous for “praising faggots like Iggy Pop”(Waksman 2).
Both punk rock and metal are very much fueled through the underlying notion of power and aggression. Like Waksman states, “There seems to be a notion that if a musician is gay, his music must be wimpy or weak” (Waksman 3). I find this topic to be very interesting. Why is there this masculine homophobia so present in many facets all over the world? Was Iggy gay? Or was it just a mere result of metal’s retaliation towards the fight for subcultural capital?
In both listening and viewing some of Iggy’s work, like most people, I couldn’t really get over the oddly provocative lyrics and interesting stage presence filled with anything from sexual shirtless dancing to cutting himself with shards of glass. Hated and loved, Iggy gained an almost instant fame for energetic live performances, something intensely enchanting for most rock fans of his and really any time. I’ll admit, I too certainly questioned this oddly feminine rocker’s sexuality (it’s hard not too).
In a 2003 interview with Rob Tannenbaum of Blender magazine, when asked the "extent of [his] gay experiences", Iggy replied, "I'm to the left of tolerant, but I've never had a gay experience. Two or three times, excited gay friends wanted to, like, nibble my nuts -- generally when I was passed out or distracted. And then I'd go, 'Hey! Bruce! Cut it out!' And that would be the end of that. The gayest it got is some guy approaching my scrotum with oral intent"(Blender Sept 2003).
To me, Iggy’s antics and comments like the one above just validate his passion for entertainment, entertainment being a key element of course in enticing eager rockers in their self-proclaimed disenchanted worlds. The backlash towards punk rock from the metal community was nothing but an acknowledgement of the power struggle existing in the inevitable need for “power through numbers” in these die-hard communities. Oh, and Iggy Pop could totally be gay…he toured with Madonna.